- Udo Kier as Baron Frankenstein - "Flesh for Frankenstein"

"Faces of Death"

Among the more recognizable of the video nasties, because of the controversy it caused, “Faces of Death” actually resurfaced semi-recently by certain European markets, and spurned numerous internet gore sites. The concept was designed by Americans, aimed at Asian markets, and it consisted of what was supposed to be genuine gory accidents. The vast majority of these accidents were actually staged, however, but this did nothing to slow the popularity of “Faces of Death.” It struck some kind of chord with many people's minds, as these acts of “genuine” gore were something that nobody had seen before, and like pornography, those same people were not satiated with just one “documentary.” “Faces of Death” has a good number of sequels and definite fan following. I actually researched the “Faces of Death” phenomenon a little while back, and I was disgusted with the psychology involved. The internet sites are set up like porn sites, with expensive monthly subscriptions, and promises of better, more extreme content than the competition. I am not affected at all by most of the movies on this list, but this part of counter-culture truly disturbs me.

"Fight for your Life"

A group of escaped convicts kidnap a young black girl, taking her back to her house and taking her whole family hostage. That's pretty much it. However, I fail to mention that the leader of said group is a vicious racist. The family taken hostage are upstanding Christians, and are constantly assaulted with numerous racial terms. This is only the beginning however, as the tormenting never stops, and soon escalates into physical violence on the entire family, including assault, and rape. This film is still on the Video Nasties list, and will probably never be removed, yet there is essentially no gore throughout the entire film. It is a film that is incredibly unsettling to watch, based solely on the characters portrayed. As difficult as it is to recommend a film as full of hatred as “Fight for your Life”, I believe it has relevance, and should be seen.

*STILL BANNED IN THE UK

"Flesh for Frankenstein"

Paul Morrisey's "Flesh for Frankenstein" was originally cut by 7 minutes, upon its original release. The film itself is hilarious, with a more than servicable amount of gore, and disturbing subject matter. All is, however, taken more as a comedy than anything else. Udo Kier is perfect as the baron, lending his thick German accent to the outrageous dialogue. The film is campy as all hell, and is as offensive to the original "Frankenstein" tale as one could imagine. That is however, exactly why the film is so great. There's some impressive gore to be seen, generally involving the spillage of someone's innards. It is also worth noting the film was originally shot in 3-D.

"Forest of Fear"

The plot involves a group of weed-smoking hippies whose drug farm gets sprayed with an experimental herbicide by an alcoholic F.B.I. agent. The result is that the hippies that smoke the tainted marijuana turn into unquenchably blood-thirsty zombies. Is it supposed to be social commentary? Perhaps a precautionary tale of sorts? I don't know, and I don't particularly care. What you need to know is that it's cheap, it's bad, and depending on your state of sobriety, wonderful to laugh at. Released to theaters in North America as “Bloodeaters,” it may have made the nasties list because of a couple of choice scenes (a spurting hand severance, and an actually fairly gruesome head bashing), but it is far more tame than you would expect from this list. I should mention that the star of George Romero's “Martin” makes a brief appearance, but I would have liked to seen much more of him.

*STILL BANNED IN THE UK

"Frozen Scream"

"Frozen Scream" is, perhaps, one of the single most nonsensical films ever made. Sort of a strange zombie film, in which the zombies aren't really zombies, but are more like regular people, doing weird-people stuff, like stalking and murdering people. Everything about this film is terrible, from the acting, to the gore, to the musical score. It's all bad. The film is incredibly rare, and should probably stay that way. It certainly didn't deserve a spot on this list.

*STILL BANNED IN THE UK

"The Funhouse"

I know that I have mentioned earlier films that have been more tame than others that have still made the list, but “The Funhouse” is genuinely a mistake. It shows the intelligence of a board of censors that deem things inappropriate for public eyes when they can't even ban the movie that they intend to. Tobe Hooper's “The Funhouse” is actually just a semi-fun little romp through a carnival after closing time, complete with a group of teenagers that get killed by a crazy, invalid man-child, and it features a couple of somewhat effective scenes. Nothing too gruesome at all. “The Last House on Dead End Street ” which was also known as “The Fun House,” was an urban legend of violent material, until it became readily available and everyone saw how average it was. It was the film that was supposed to be banned.

"Gestapo's Last Orgy"

Another of the Nazi death-camp themed films of the era, this one actually takes place after the war, and centers on the revenge taken by a former female prisoner on her abusive Nazi camp commandant. “Gestapo's Last Orgy” sounds like a title that takes its material on a more fun, more offensive slant, but this is a bleak, bleak film. It seems to be more in the vein of “The Night Porter,” as it takes its material very seriously. It is almost as though the people that made this movie are anti-Semitic themselves. While the hero of the story is a woman who gets her revenge, much of the film is told in flashback and depicts acts more horrible than perhaps what actually happened in the death camps.

Scenes of note:

•  A lot of graphic Jewish skull-bashing

•  The lowering of people of Jewish decent into a vat of acid

•  Graphic rape

•  One character proudly announcing “There's nothing better than a pot roast of unborn Jew!”

I feel sick just writing it, let alone watching it.

*STILL BANNED IN THE UK

"The House by the Cemetery"

Another film by Lucio Fulci, this is nowhere near as good as “The Beyond.” I don't know if it's even as good as “Zombie,” but I am in the minority of horror buffs that it isn't that big of an effort. One thing I can definitely appreciate, however, is that whenever Fulci makes the nasties list, it is definitely well-deserved. Nobody does crazy gore better than Fulci did. Even though some of his effects looked quite bad, he is the only person who went certain places with his gore that other directors wouldn't. For example, it was common among Fulci's work that sometime in the movie, there would be a scene where an eyeball is gored (sometimes more than once a film). Hitchcock hid himself in his movies, Ozu played with continuity, and Fulci gored eyeballs. “The House by the Cemetery” is standard fare for Fulci, featuring plenty of throat ripping, and decapitation filmed in the way only Fulci can.

"House on the Edge of the Park

Rape-revenge films are a common occurrence on the video nasties list. Included almost as often as cannibal films or films with "Don't go in..." in the title. Directed by Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust), and starring David Hess of “Last House on the Left, "House..." is a nasty little shocker, in a similar vein to the other rape/revenge flicks on the list; however, Deodato brings something completely different to the table. He is a highly talented director, and particularly well-suited to the exploitation genre, as he is capable of bringing more depth, innovation, and audience involvement to his pictures. "House..." is no different. The film, while lacking gore, is particularly brutal and unsettling, as there is a constant threat of violence. The film is gritty and uncompromising, and an incredibly solid entry in the world of exploitation films. There are no unnecessary story elements, as the film has one objective, to unease, upset, and promote anger and disgust within the viewer. Whether the film achieves this objective is a matter of perspective on a per-viewer basis. In my mind, there is no question as to the effectiveness of this film.

"Human Experiments"

Having disappeared from existence almost completely, "Human Experiments" enjoyed only a brief listing on the Nasties. Perhaps due to its suggestive title, which may have led censors to believe the film had something to do with some torturous activity, perhaps related to the Nazis. Incarcerated after being wrongfully convicted of a brutal murder, a woman is treated to some very strange psychological experiments. Nothing offensive here, unless you have a deep-set fear of strange looking bugs. Not exactly what I would call 'worth the effort' to find, as it is a very rare film.

"I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses"

Another movie, like “The Driller Killer” that seems to have been banned more because of the way the film was advertised than anything else. The tagline to “I Miss You Hugs and Kisses” is “For those who like their sex with a lot of violence.” Red flags must have been waving everywhere when the censors got a whiff of that. If they had actually watched “I Miss You Hugs and Kisses,” they would have realized that it wasn't overly violent at all. The violence is not glorified, and rarely even seen by the audience. Tame is putting it mildly, as the film seems shy about every taboo subject it presents.

"I Spit on your Grave"

Quite possibly the most difficult film I have ever had to watch. I had to turn away from the rape scenes, as they were incredibly disturbing. The series of rape sequences also lasts nearly half the length of the film. The film is perhaps the most, emotionally depressing, and morally downbeat film ever made, and is very much worthy of it's inclusion on the DPP's list. As such it is incredibly difficult for me to extend a recommendation, as there is certainly nothing to enjoy about the film, nor is it particularly well-made. It does however, succeed in providing the viewer with one of the most memorable (not necessarily in a good way) movie-going experiences they will ever experience. Its intent is to shock to shock the viewer with its uncomfortable sequences of rape, and then with its equally uncomfortable scenes of the raped woman exacting her revenge. I don't believe it is possible to emerge from a viewing of "I Spit on your Grave" without being at least slightly psychologically affected. The events that occur are not events that we are accustomed to seeing, nor should we be. They are incredibly difficult to watch, and morally affecting. "I Spit on your Grave" is one of Roger Ebert's most hated movies - "It is a movie so sick, reprehensible and contemptible that I can hardly believe it's playing in respectable theatres, such as Plitt's United Artists. But it is. Attending it was one of the most depressing experiences of, my life." - Roger Ebert. I suggest you read the entire review.

"Inferno"

One thing that censors had no tolerance for was violence against animals, and there is a scene in “Inferno” where a cat catches a mouse, and eats it. Not a big deal by us horror fans' standards, but I think it struck a chord with the Department of Public Prosecutions. I would say that I was disturbed by “Inferno,” however not for the reasons that would get a movie banned. Dario Argento's follow-up to “Suspiria” is very much a sub-conscious experience. While watching it, you may not like it or understand what is going on, but muscle your way to the end, and in a little while after the final frame, you will see what I mean. No film has given me nightmares since I was ten, with the exception of “Inferno.” Argento found a way with this movie to bury his way into the mind to create something truly frightening deep in the psyche. It is a great film.

"Island of Death"

Also known as “Island of Perversion,” “Island of Death” takes the immorality that angered Jason Voorhees so much, and kicked things up a notch. A young couple takes a winter vacation to a Greek island, and begins a killing spree based on sexual deviance. I don't know what the director's (Nico Mastorakis) attitudes are towards these deviations, but his intentions are quite clear as to what he wishes to achieve cinematically. He realizes that his film is exploitive, and wishes to push the envelope farther than the other films in his genre. He does this by finding a surprisingly great variety in his murders (crucifixion, bulldozer, paint poisoning, etc…), and offends also with its sexual acts as well. Not only does the couple go after the standard “perverts,” but also bestiality, homosexuals, incestual relationships, and defecation for purposes of sexual arousal. More ambitious than the standard “nasty.”

"The Killer Nun"

There's certainly something strange about watching sisters of the cloth engaging in what could be considered corrupt acts. 'Nunsploitation', they call it. It's a unique sub-genre of film, and one that is unfortunately, relatively unrepresented on the list of video nasties. There is a certain amount of distaste to be found in any exploitation film, and 'Killer Nun' certainly has its fair share of distaste. Nuns involved in various sexual activities, with both the male and female sexes, and all sorts of other blasphemous material, including a series of brutal murders. The film is, in essence a poorly constructed mystery, as the perpetrator of said murders is suggested to be the central character, Gertrude; however whether she is the killer, or not will not be revealed until later in the film. While the film is quite trite (sweet, sweet rhyme), it is inventive enough visually, to make up slightly for it's lack of substance. While the violence is both inventive and unsettling and the characters are all without any redeeming qualities, the film most likely got into more trouble than it possibly should have based on its subject matter.